On this episode of Ignition
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MotorTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:15 The great looking wedge-shaped Scirocco left our shores in
00:18 1988, and worldwide production ended in the early '90s.
00:22 But the car was reintroduced in Europe in 2008.
00:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:32 Now before you get your hoax up, this third generation
00:35 Scirocco isn't and likely will not be for sale in the US.
00:39 But that didn't stop Volkswagen from bringing one
00:41 over for us to test.
00:42 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:46 This is the Scirocco R. And if that sounds similar to the
00:49 Golf R, it's because this Scirocco shares most of that
00:52 car's underpinnings, with a few mechanical differences.
00:55 The 2-liter turbo 4 makes a little more power and torque.
00:58 And it's lighter too, because that power drives
01:00 the front wheels only.
01:02 [ENGINE REVVING]
01:05 With more power and a lighter weight,
01:07 let's see what we're missing out on.
01:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:12 the acceleration matches that of the Golf R. And it's a
01:40 twin clutch has a launch control system that seemed to
01:43 produce more tire smoke than acceleration.
01:46 And while the shifts are fast, the Scirocco couldn't match the
01:49 abusive all-wheel clutch dump shenanigans possible in the
01:51 Golf R.
01:52 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:02 Wonderfully, you can fully defeat the Scirocco's stability
02:05 by using the rear-wheel drive system.
02:07 Wonderfully, you can fully defeat the Scirocco's stability
02:10 control.
02:11 And the car's aggressive setup returns hugely enjoyable
02:14 rotation off throttle.
02:16 The overall performance is staggering.
02:18 The Scirocco's 24.9 second figure-eight lap time
02:21 is the fastest we've recorded from a front-drive car.
02:24 And it ties the best results we've
02:25 recorded from a Lance Revolution, a C63 AMG,
02:29 and an S4.
02:30 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:33 [CAR ENGINE]
02:42 Now, the tough part when talking about this car is
02:45 avoiding the whole desire to have it because it's forbidden
02:49 fruit.
02:51 [CAR ENGINE]
02:53 But a lot of the desire comes from the fact that this car is
02:56 just cool.
02:57 [CAR ENGINE]
03:04 Now, you probably wouldn't be surprised if I told you this
03:06 car drives very much like a Golf R or a GTI.
03:10 Very similar, in fact.
03:11 From the inside, there isn't a lot different.
03:13 Sure, we have some features in this car because it's European.
03:17 We have adjustable dampers, the speedometers in kilometers
03:19 per hour.
03:20 So you have to remember what that means in freedom
03:23 measurements.
03:24 [CAR ENGINE]
03:27 But everything else is pretty similar.
03:28 The roof sits a little bit lower,
03:30 so outward visibility is a little cramped.
03:32 But other than that, everything else
03:34 seems to be right at home.
03:36 Now, the adjustable damping system's pretty neat,
03:38 although I find myself using normal mode rather than sport
03:42 or comfort.
03:43 Sport was even too stiff for our test track,
03:46 causing all kinds of crazy vertical movements and whatnot.
03:48 And comfort is just a little too soft.
03:51 Normal is a really nice middle ground
03:52 that I leave the car in all the time.
03:55 [CAR ENGINE]
03:58 Now, this engine is also very similar to the Golf R.
04:04 262 horsepower.
04:07 It still kind of sounds like an angry vacuum cleaner,
04:10 but we do get really nice pops and sounds on gear changes.
04:15 What's different about this car, and the thing
04:17 you notice immediately, is that it's a couple hundred pounds
04:21 lighter, and it's a little bit more
04:23 of a front wheel drive.
04:24 And it's a little bit more of a front wheel drive,
04:26 but it's a little bit more of a front wheel drive.
04:29 And the reason for that is that it's a couple hundred pounds
04:31 lighter and front wheel drive.
04:33 And it is every bit better because of it.
04:36 [CAR ENGINE]
04:39 Let's talk a bit more about the design,
04:41 because that really is the big factor on this car.
04:44 And it's interesting, because it looks
04:46 like someone took a photo of a Golf R
04:48 and put it in Photoshop and started
04:50 playing around with the smudge tool.
04:51 And it's a little bit of a shame,
04:53 because it's a little bit of a shame
04:54 that you can't get a car like this.
04:56 It's a little bit of a shame that you can't get a car
04:58 like this.
04:59 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:01 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:03 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:05 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:08 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:10 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:12 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:14 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:17 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:19 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:21 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:24 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:26 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:28 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:30 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:33 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:35 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:37 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:39 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:42 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:44 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:46 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:49 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:51 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:53 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:55 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
05:58 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
06:00 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
06:02 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
06:04 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
06:07 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
06:09 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
06:11 And it's a shame that you can't get a car like this.
06:13 Well, there's a couple of different reasons
06:16 you could guess.
06:17 And the first one is, how would this
06:20 affect sales of the Golf, the GTI, and so on?
06:23 And the second one is, could they sell it here
06:26 because of the difference between the USD and the Euro?
06:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:44 The fact that the Scirocco R delivers
06:50 a very similar experience to the Golf R isn't too surprising.
06:54 On the road, they have a very enjoyable driving experience,
06:57 a near premium feel.
06:58 And then there's the Scirocco's fantastic styling.
07:02 You can't help but wonder why this car
07:04 isn't available in the US.
07:06 Sold in limited numbers, like this R model,
07:08 the Scirocco could serve as an alternative to entry level
07:11 luxury cars like the CC does to the Passat.
07:15 We can only hope that Volkswagen is thinking the same thing.
07:18 The Skyrocco.
07:23 The Ski-ro-co-co.
07:25 The Skyro-co-co?
07:27 Skyro-co-co.
07:28 Skyrocco.
07:32 Scirocco.
07:34 The Volkswagen Shakira.
07:37 How many ways can we piss off people at bwvortex.com?
07:42 This thing's like an Eos, a Volkswagen Eos.
07:46 How so?
07:47 I'm joking.
07:47 That's that thing that piss people off on the forums.
07:50 I'd much rather be in a Beetle right now.
07:55 Anyway, three, two--
07:58 That wasn't very convincing.